Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Processes – Molding – casting – or shaping
Reexamination Certificate
2001-01-05
2003-10-14
Yeung, George C. (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Processes
Molding, casting, or shaping
C426S284000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06632466
ABSTRACT:
The invention concerns a standard stuffed food speciality product, a method for producing this product, and a device implementing this method.
There already exist food co-extrusion methods, as well as single extrusion systems, food or non-food being almost similar to co-extrusion via their design.
There is for example a system used in particular in the confectioner trade Known by an expert in this field under the name “RHEON” including an integrated device made up of Two wing pumps and their hoppers meeting together at the level of a standard coextrusion head. The casing of the product is formed at the same time as the stuffing in an extremely short die (2 to 3 cm). No cooking is possible in the device which supports excessively hot raw material with difficulty, typically above 60° C. This system is complex to mount and dismantle involving at least thirty mechanical elements and is extremely difficult to clean when cheese is used. This system is in particular used to coextrude large shapes, stuffed balls, stuffed rolls, large diameter sticks (minimum diameter 20 mm) or gnocchi.
With cheese in particular, small cheese sticks with a diameter of between 10 and 15 mm, indeed less, cannot be made without significantly modifying the device. The cost and low capacity of the machine are negative elements for economically producing small items, such as sticks or similar stuffed cheese moulds.
There is also a method similar to the preceding one commonly known as “VEMAG”, the difference being that the device is not integrated in a given device. In fact, it concerns two thrustors conjugated with a coextrusion head. This head is extremely short and generally remains with a diameter of more than 20 mm so as to obtain a product at reasonable production costs.
In all these cases, the cost of the system would be prohibitive for small items, such as food sticks, especially stuffed or cheese sticks.
There is also an injection filling method. In fact, there are products which combine brioche type coextruded products which are stuffed after cooking using an injection needle. This system does not in general applies to cheeses.
There are also stuffed type products which may resemble coextruded products. For example, by starting with a product rolled from a strip 2 to 3 mm thick with a width of 10 cm, this product is obtained by placing a stuffing at the centre of the strip before rolling. This is the case for example with bread containing chocolate. This method could be applied to cheese under certain formulation conditions: in particular the glueing and joinability properties of the cheese pastry. The product yield is extremely different from a stuffed cheese specialty to be described subsequently.
There are also co-pushing systems or other thrustor systems for co-pushing sausages. The result appears for example in the form of sausages with a cheese heart.
It is difficult to have the system adapt to high dry extract cheeses described in the remainder of the text.
The invention seeks to obtain stuffed food specialities, especially cheese ones, which are typically small with a lower diameter of less than 20 mm and in particular between 10 and 15 mm, thus mitigating the drawbacks of the prior art so as to obtain this type of product.
The invention also seeks to obtain these products by using cheese pastries having a high dry extract reaching of between 50 and 60%. With the coextrusion systems of the prior art, the shearing forces in the coextrusion die are too high to obtain a good product yield.
The invention also seeks to use a possible wide variety of formulations for the production of the desired products.
According to a first characteristic, the invention concerns a method for producing a food product including a solid casing coating at least one stuffing from a food bass used to form the casing of the product and at least a food stuffing material in a coextrusion device including a coextrusion die fed with the food base and the stuffing material(s), the method including the following successive stages:
formation in a first section of the die of the casing which solidifies via a thermic effect, this first section being longitudinally traversed by at least one transfer hollow needle of the stuffing, one hollow needle per stuffing material penetrating into a second section of the die, the start of the second section being defined by the outgoing extremity of the shorter hollow needle;
a stuffing in the second section of the die of the solid casing formed in the first section of the die with the stuffing material(s) coming out of the hollow needles traversing the first section;
recovery of the product including the external casing filled with the stuffing material(s) at the die outlet.
The food base is typically proteinic and can be a polysaccharide.
According to a first embodiment, the casing is formed in the first section of the die by cooling, normally via the circulation of water or another similar fluid.
According to one variant, natural cheeses, fresh curds or non-molten cheese specialities are used for the casing material.
According to another variant, molten cheeses or molten cheese specialities with or without melting salts are used for the casing material.
According to one embodiment, the method includes the following stages:
preparation of the stuffing and casing at a temperature of about 90° C. in the feed hoppers;
cooling at a temperature close to 80° C. of the stuffing and cooling at a temperature of about 60° C. of the casing between the feed hoppers and the coextrusion head;
extrusion of the casing with cooling of the first section of the die at a temperature of about 50° C. so as to solidify the casing;
extrusion of the stuffing which fills the casing produced in the first section with cooling of the second section of the die at a temperature of about 30° C., the product coming out of the die having a temperature of about 38° C.
The following are defined:
TE=temperature of the casing in the feed hopper of the system
TFn=temperature of the stuffing n in its feed hopper
TFIL
1
=average temperature of the wall of the die corresponding to the length
L
1
TFILn=average temperature of the wall of the die corresponding to the length
Ln-(L n−1)
TP
1
=average temperature of the product at the outlet of the hollow needle
1
TPn=average temperature of the product at the outlet of the hollow needle n
TFILFIN=average temperature of the wall of the die corresponding to the length L-Ln
TPFIN=average temperature of the product at the outlet of the die.
According to one embodiment, the temperatures in the coextrusion device follow the law:
TE=TFn=TFIL
1
=TFILn=TFLFIN=TP
1
=TPn=TPFIN=2-10° C.
According to another embodiment, for a “hot” process, with the casing and the stuffing(s) being introduced between 30 and 80° C., the temperatures in the coextrusion device follow the law:
TE=TFn=30-80° C.; 80° C.>TFIL
1
>TFIL n>TFILFIN=30° C.; TP
1
=TPn=TPFIN=70 at 35° C.
According to another embodiment, in a “high temperature” process, with the casing and the stuffing(s) being introduced between 90 and 100° C., the temperatures in the coextrusion device follow the law:
TE=TFn=90-100° C.: 80° C.>TFIL
1
>TFILn>TFILFIN=30° C.; TP
1
=TPn=TPFIN=85 at 35° C.
According to a second embodiment, the envelope is formed by heating, by thermic coagulation at a temperature of more than 50° C. and normally between 80 and 100° C.
In this embodiment, it is possible to use products for the casing material which are meat, egg, fish flesh or surimi composites.
According to one embodiment, the coextrusion device follows the law:
TE=Tfn=2-50° C.; TFIL
1
=TFILn=TFILFIN>80-100° C.; TP
1
=TPn=TPFIN=60-80° C. thoroughly hot.
According to another embodiment, the method includes the following stages:
a preparation of the stuffing at a temperature TFn close to 90° C.
Genton Daniel
Roussel Herve
Bongrain SA
Harness & Dickey & Pierce P.L.C.
Yeung George C.
LandOfFree
Coextrusion method with coextrusion hollow needles does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Coextrusion method with coextrusion hollow needles, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Coextrusion method with coextrusion hollow needles will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3161994